Any good freelancer has surely hear the saying that 80% of your work will come from 20% of your clients. As a young freelancer, I found this saying to be far from true. In the beginning, it was more like 80% of my work came low paying clients I found on job boards and 20% of the time I wanted to shoot them in the face.

At the time, I couldn’t understand how this saying could be true. I rarely ever had repeat clients, let alone ones who would come back time and time again.

Looking back, I’m sure it to do with two things:

1. The quality of my work.
2. The quality of my clients.

Problem 1

Obviously when I started freelancing I wasn’t exactly the best designer. Granted I got better as the days passed, but I was still far from exceptional. This undoubtedly was part of the reason I didn’t get repeat clients. While most of my clients were happy with the end product, it wasn’t anything special enough for them to seek me out the next time they needed work.

The solution to this problem is only one that can happen over time. In order to be able to produce designs of a caliber that cause clients to seek you out, you need practice. Becoming an amazing designer like Elliot Jay Stocks or the guys over at Meta Labs won’t happen over night. Constantly designing and pushing yourself to up your game is the only way you will ever become a sought after designer. As such, it is the main way you will get 80% of your work from 20% of your clients.

Problem 2

Assuming you have had a dozen or so clients in your time as a freelancer, I am sure you have come across a variety of clients. Some of them good, others, not so much. I have learned that the sort of clients that fall into the 20% category are a certain type. Typically, that type are the ones who appreciate good design and are willing to pay for it. These types of clients are rarely found on job boards and classified sites.

So, that begs the question, where are these 20% of clients found? More than likely they are found through word of mouth referrals and through amazing work. As I said before, if you produce amazing work, clients will find you.

Looking Back

I make no claims to be an amazing designer, but I manage to make a decent living at it. Having worked my way up from nothing as most freelancers do, I realize now that the 80/20 rule is very much true. In fact, it is a very amazing thing. You usually end up with the majority of your work coming from those 20% of clients because the two of you get along and work very well together. So not only are having to look less for work, but you are getting to work with people who appreciate your designs and creativity.

This is one of my shorter vidcasts, but an important one none the less. As your business grows and you start working with bigger companies, they are going to expect more from you than just a few emails and a contract. One essential element bigger clients expect is a formal proposal. If you have never written one of these, it can be a bit intimidating.

Waiting until you have a big name client ask for a proposal is a bad time write your first proposal.

Do yourself a favor and write a few practice ones first. Writing these practice proposals is a great way to learn what is expected in a proposal, feel more comfortable writing them, and maybe even get a job or two.

Writing these first few practice proposals will be time consuming, I can promise you that it will be well worth it. Not only will this skill help you land bigger clients, but it will probably help you land smaller clients too. Think about it, if you are after a small $2,000 job and you submit the client a well written, formal proposal, and all the other applicants just send in an email; who do you think the client will pick?

Just some thoughts I had today. What do you think?

I’m all about customer service. I have kind of taken on the Zappos philosophy when it comes to that area. I constantly go above an beyond to help my customers out. Rather than just give them design advice, I also help them with their business and marketing for free. I’m around to answer any of their questions five days a week and sometimes on the weekends. I make small changes to the site for free and a lot of other things that I could easily charge for.

Normally this isn’t a problem. But, it got me thinking, where does this sort of customer service stop?

Obviously major design and development things are going to cost the client extra. I guess more of what I am questioning is the back and forth changes? The little things that add up fast and make me feel like I’m being taken advantage of.

If, like me, you do all these sort of little things for free, when do you say that you will have to start charging for them? Better yet, how do you explain to your client that you’ll have to start charging them for it after doing it for free for so long?

Obviously you can setup guidelines in the contract, but I don’t like being restricted like that. I guess it’s just a slippery slope either way you look at it if you want to do business this way. That said, I have found that by doing business this way I have been getting a lot more repeat work from clients. Even before I finish one project for them They ask me to start on another one for them.

So, I guess there is something to be said about this business model.

My buddies over at 45 Royale worked on a project called Screenr. Basiclly, Screenr is a online screencasting tool that allows you to sign up with just your Twitter account. You can then create five minute long screencasts and share them on Twitter or just use the permalink created to share with others.

I’ll admit, at first I wasn’t very impressed with Screenr. Not because it wasn’t usable or functional, but because I didn’t really see the point in creating screencasts to share on Twitter.

My love for screencasting came one day when I had a client who was new to WordPress and wasn’t very internet savvy. After a handful of support calls that were very basic WordPress functions, I decided to create a simple screen cast for the client. The screencast walked the client through how to use the theme specific features as well as some basic WordPress functions.

I have not had a support request from that client since then.

Normally I used to walk clients through how the theme worked over the phone. They would write notes and learn how things worked. No doubt they would forget much of what we went over on the phone as soon as we hung up. The beauty of these screencasts is that they have them to view any time. So, if a month after they have tweeked their theme they decide they want to change something; rather than call me, they can check the screencast first.

I also use these screencasts to talk to my developers and explain to them how I think the theme should work or what some parts of the design may be. I’ll share one of these videos below in case you are interested in seeing it.

Talking Shop – Episode 12

Like it or not, the age old bit of Kevin Costner wisdom, “if you build it, they will come”, couldn’t be more untrue for the designers portfolio site. Hoping that a potential client finds your needle in a haystack portfolio site out of the clear blue is idiotic at best. Obviously, some good SEO and online advertising can help, but that’s still far from a good start.

So, how can you resurrect your dying portfolio website?

You don’t.

That’s right, you don’t.

Rather than trying to give life to a dying breed, why not create your own superhuman soldiers to find clients for you? And by superhuman soldiers I totally mean join design oriented social networks.

Why Join Design Networks

The better question here is why wouldn’t you join these design oriented social networks? By not joining social sites like Behance, Flickr, and DeviantArt you are cutting back the number of potential clients that could see your work by over 50% or more. OK, so I made that number up, but I’m sure its more than accurate.

By showcasing your work on all of these other social sites, you are increasing your chances for clients to see your work and in turn, contact you for paying work. Even posting your work on stock sites is a way for clients to to find you. I have hired several designers and illustrators over the years that I have found through stock sites. This is not an uncommon way for clients to find designers. It happens all the time.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think about all this? Im sure many of you would like to share your two cents and I encourage you to do so. I also encourage you to share the social sites that you are a part of. Feel free to add links!

I know we have all had our fair share of clients who are just complete idiots when it comes to design, technology, or both. Some people just don’t understand good design or development, but other are just dumb. Regardless of how dumb they are, we shouldn’t treat them as such.

This is especially true when talking to new clients.

Treating your client as an equal is going to get you a lot further than treating them like you are the almighty design god. I can’t begin to describe how much of a difference being personal and straight with your client makes. But, I’m sure you have had an experience in the past where you worked with a service provider, maybe a CPA or banker, who just made you feel really good about working with them.

Thats what I’m talking about.

Treat all your clients, new or old, with that respect. If you don’t, you can kiss your clients goodbye. They will remember that attitude, and probably tell others about it. Take this post as a prime example. It was sparked by a call I made to a potential CPA I wanted to work with. From the minute he picked up the phone he seemed annoyed that an idiot such as myself would even bother to call him. I was so annoyed with the way he was treating me that i almost hung up on him in mid sentence.

Later that week I talked to a nice young lady who was nothing but nice and helpful from the moment I started talking to her.

Guess which one got my business?

I know we all tend to have the same exact workflow with every client we work with. It only makes sense. I mean, if something works well, why do it any differently? Well, what if by doing it differently you could actually do it better? That’s what today’s video is about.

I have been exploring ways to make my WordPress Designers more about the client and less about me as a designer. In exploring for ways to make this happen I began to wonder what it would be like if I tried changing up my design workflow to be more client friendly.

Basically, what I did was talk to the client several times until I felt I had a pretty good idea of how the client liked to do things. For example, was he going to be a very hands on client, or was just going to be happy with anything I did? Did he seem like he had a very specific idea in mind or was he unsure of what he want exactly?

It seemed to me that if I adjusted my workflow to better suit the type of client that I was working with the benefits would be plentiful. By adjusting my workflow to fit the client, I would have less headaches (maybe), eliminate wasted time on design and development, give the client a more personalized experience, let the client feel more involved, and most importantly; the ability to build n even stronger relationship with the client.

This video is a little late, as it was supposed to come out before the post “Who Else Wants Higher Paying Clients“, but it took forever to get uploaded. Anyways, in this video I talk a little bit more in depth about certain aspects that I cover in the article linked above.

If you haven’t checked out the article Who Else Wants Higher Paying Clients, I highly suggest you do. It has some very in depth advice and tips on how to land higher paying clients and bigger projects. The article isn’t a bunch of fluff and theory, but things that I have learned from my own experiences.

Like many of you I’m sure, when I started designing I took almost any job that would come my way. Sometimes I took 4 or 5 at a time just so I didn’t have to say no or pass up money that was coming my way. Boy, if those aren’t some classic rookie mistakes. But, you do what you got to do when you are making very little money per job. This situation naturally leads one to wonder how they get less clients that want to pay more.

While I can’t say that these methods will work for everyone, below are some of the strategies I used when re-launching WordPress Designers. If you visit the site you will notice that it is only about half way done, yet I am getting more business than ever from the new design. So much new business that I hardly have time to finish the site!

Here are some of my secrets to getting higher paying clients!

Evaluate Your Past High Paying Clients

Obviously this only works if you have had paying clients in the past. One thing that helped me the most was to to look over my older, high paying, clients and see what I did to convince them to work with me. What was it that convinced them to work with me over the competition? Was it my website? My portfolio samples? My communication? After doing a little research, I realized that it was the clients who I spoke with on the phone AFTER a ballpaprk price was suggested.

Now that I know what was helping me get higher paying clients, it only made sense to better exploit this tool. I will mention how I exploited the ballpark price portion in the next section. For now, I just want to briefly talk about how I improved the phone calls aspect.

In the past, I never really called clients unless they asked me too. I’m just not a phone person, so I would rather chat or just send emails. But, if a few phone calls meant I could get $5,000+ clients, I was more than happy to make a few calls. Now when ever I get a quote request from a client, the first thing I do is give them a very rough ballpark figure and ask them if that is in their budget. If it is in their budget, I then ask for their phone number to do a phone consultation to get some more information to provide them with a better quote.

Since it is these phone calls where I usually “seal the deal” I figured it couldn’t hurt to brush up on my sales techniques and elevator pitches. Here are some resources I found that helped me brush up on these skills.

The Hollywood Way to Online Business Success
“This is the element of a movie and a business that makes it unique. Your USP, your elevator pitch, your remarkable benefit. Without this, the odds for success go way down.”



Perfecting Your “Elevator Pitch”
“Too many entrepreneurs try to pack too much into their “elevator pitches,” making them overly long and detailed, focusing on the wrong things, or using industry jargon that clouds or obscures what their company is really all about.”


Close More Sales: 3 Ways to Get In, Get Started and Make More Money Now—No Matter the Economy
“If you focus on building relationships and implement the sales strategies I reveal here, you’ll be able to close more deals and get more sales now. People will buy from you even in a lagging economy — no matter what your price point.”

Here are a few books I purchased as well. Many of them were recommended by others in the industry. I haven’t read them all yet, but they look every promising. the ones I have read are all extremely insightful.

Show Your Base Price Up Front

For whatever reason, we as designers don’t like to share our prices publicly. Some people are paranoid of other designers being under sold by the competition, while others don’t want to low ball them self on a high paying client. Both are logical reasons not share your price. But in my experience, publishing my start point for design work was one of the best things I ever did.

On the home page of my site, I clearly state that custom design work starts at $2000. By posting this starting point, it weeds out many of the people who aren’t willing to spend that kind of money. Thus, the people that do contact me are ready to spend at least that amount of money. But, because I said “prices start at” I haven’t locked my self into a fixed rate and am free to bid higher on jobs when appropriate. I also reiterate this price on the contact/quote request form in case the person missed the home page altogether. This helps keep my inbox free of emails from people looking for cheap design work.

Because I don’t want to completely push away those with smaller budgets, I also offer design tweaking services which I don’t share a price for. When I get emails for this sort of work, I pick and choose who I want to potentially work with. If I feel the would be clients needs could be better suited with a slightly more expensive approach, then I follow the steps above with a ballpark figure and phone consult.

In this phone consult I share with them a number of ideas that could help their business or website make more money both short term and long term. I explain the benefits of my suggestions and the cost involved with each. Nine times out of ten, I end up getting the client invest more in to their website than they had planned and feel good about it.

How much to charge for design work?
“Often I get asked this question via email, facebook or twitter about how to price yourself as a designer. The usual phrase goes something along the lines of “how much should I charge for” … web design, graphic design, logo design, etc.”



Pricing Web Work – What Should You Charge?
“The first thing that you should be aware of is that the discussion of pricing with your competitors is illegal in the US and Canada. Yes, you heard me right. It’s called price fixing, and it’s a federal offence.”



The Art of Business: Setting Rates for Your Small Design Firm
“When you’re a freelancer, setting rates is relatively simple; you fill in a few cost numbers, find a comfortable profit margin (if you can), and divide the cost of business by the number of hours you want or need to work. As a result, most freelancers have a single rate card.”

Extra Step Networking

It is no secret that networking can help your business. I think that because the design community is such and online network, that we tend to do a lot more social networking than other industries. The problem is, we seem to keep this networking restricted to the online world. When is the last time you called or met one of the people you interact with online? I suggest taking an extra step in your social networking by actually getting in contact with some of the people you interact with online.

If its possible, see if anyone you talk to online lives in your area. If so, make plans to meet up with them for coffee or drinks to just talk shop. If that’s not possible, see about chatting over the telephone, video chat, or some other way of communication that is more personal than Tweeting or comments. By making these more personal connection, the people you are networking with will remember you over their strictly online friends. They will also feel more comfortable with recommending you to people we the can.

Check out our long list of graphic design and web design conferences as a place to meet some big names in teh industry.

How to Build Credibility as a Young Blogger/Entrepreneur
“When it comes to the blogosphere it may be all about the content, but when it comes to content, credibility is king. Credibility can make or break a blog. Take a look at the successful blogs out there..”



Social Networking Goes Offline
“With MeetIn you set up a profile, which can include your photo, age, and brief sections on education and interests (MeetIn’s largest and most active chapter is in Portland, where more than 6,600 people have created profiles). Each member can post invites to events—dinners, concerts, salsa dancing, Frisbee outings—for others to join.”



Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job
“LinkedIn has over thirty-five million members in over 140 industries. Most of them are adults, employed, and not looking to post something on your Wall or date you. Executives from all the Fortune 500 companies are on LinkedIn. Most have disclosed what they do, where they work now, and where they’ve worked in the past. Talk about a target-rich environment, and the service is free.”

Main image purchased from Shutterstock

While there is plenty of money to be made in the drug world dime bags and QPs, I’m not suggesting you add these to your list of services.  What I am suggesting is a clever business idea I picked up while watching the hit HBO series, Weeds.

If you are unfamiliar with the show Weeds, here is a description from Yahoo TV;

“A widowed suburban mother determinedly keeps up appearances in her idyllic community, whose residents remain oblivious to the fact that she’s the source of the high-quality marijuana that’s suddenly flooded the neighborhood. In Season 2, Nancy evolved into a true business woman from her humble beginnings as a dealer. She struggled to meet her obligations to her family and her new found “career.” Her questionable choices continued to play havoc with her life. Last season, viewers saw Nancy venture from hesitant but determined toe-dipper in the unpredictable waters of drug dealing to confident, full-fledged queen-pin entrepreneur.”

What I learned from the Show

There is an episode in the series in which the main characters accountant mentions that he canvas college bulletin boards for things like small business clubs and entrepreneur groups. He then makes arrangements tos peak at these clubs and meetings, upon which his lectures are designed to confuse the hell out of people when it comes to taxes and accounting. He then passes his business card around and the “deer in headlights” members come asking for his help.

Now I’m not suggesting that you find some similar groups and confuse the hell out of them when it comes to web design or graphics, but speaking at these sort of events can lead some decent work. Places like the Small Business Development Center and other small business association usually have work shops and guest speakers on a regular basis. If you don’t have a fear of public speaking, these organizations can be a great way to drum up business.

How to Find Small Business Clubs and Associations

If you are interested in trying out this networking technique, there a number of places where you can start looking for clubs and associations in your area.

Colleges
As mentioned above, colleges can be a great place to start looking for these sorts of clubs. You can always try out the college website first. Sometimes these websites are more geared toward recruiting new students then promoting campus activities. If you can’t find any information about clubs on their website, you can always try calling student services. These people will generally be able to anwser any questions you have about clubs, or at least point you in the right direction.

SBDC
The Small Business Development Center has locations all over the US. You can check out their website to find a location near you. You can also look at their calendar of events to see what sort of workshops and lectures they provide. After you are a little more familiar with what your local SBDC offers, try contacting them and pitching a lecture about the importance of web design or something similar. They are likely to jump at the offer and set something up right away.

Meetup.com
Another place that I have found useful in finding local small business groups in my area is a website called Meetup. This website is full of homemade groups in your area. Some of them can be as broad as “Small Business Owners of City Name.” Some can be even more specific if you are into niche work like “Bloggers of City Name.” These groups tend to meet once a month or more usually have a guest speaker or specific topic they talk about. If you contact the group founder, it is highly likely that you can arrange some sort of design specific topic night.

Final Thoughts

Do any of you have any experience with doing this sort of thing to driver business or just educate fellow entrepreneurs in your area? Im sure your fellow readers would love to hear your experience and how they worked out for you in the end. If you have any stories regarding this topic, please share it in the comments section below.

The image for this article was purchased from Shutterstock